HOW DO OPHTHALMOLOGISTS SAVE LIVES? (PART 2)

I asked him, “What’s that?” He said, “It’s nothing, just a new mole. I showed my family doctor and he said it’s nothing at all.” Then I carefully looked at it and replied, “No, dear friend, it’s not nothing.” After examining his eyes, of course, I took him by the hand and led him to the dermatologist in our building. A few months later, that patient came back to the office and said, “Doctor, you saved my life. The next day, I had a biopsy and it turned out to be a malignant melanoma, which was only millimeters away from metastasizing into cancer. Another week, and it would have been too late.” The severity of melanoma is measured by the depth of its penetration, and if it is neglected at a certain level more than 90% of patients won’t live more than five years.

It’s interesting that the general practitioner was so optimistic, but the ophthalmologist saw it for what it was. Why is that?

Because ophthalmologists should often look for spots on the fundus, the surface of the eye, eyelids, and on the face, so their eyes are trained for the task. Furthermore, I look not only at the eyes, but at the general condition of the patient, as well. How do they look? Healthy, ruddy, extremely thin, turning yellow, or even turning green.

Talk about a story! I would have right then and there erected a monument to the doctor. 

That isn’t the whole story. Within a few years, he came back to me for another reason. We took a picture of his fundus – we have a special machine called 

 that without excessive pupil enlargement takes extensive and phenomenally accurate images. Thanks to that, we saw certain areas of the retina that can’t be seen through any other method, and this time we saw a very small, but not-good spot on his retina. Spots of this kind were doubly suspicious, as well, since he already had melanoma. I quickly sent him to a melanoma specialist at UCLA, even though I must say that this phenomenon is extremely rare – only 50 recorded cases in the entire country. They ran some tests that confirmed the diagnosis and he was treated immediately for an eye melanoma, using a radioactive shield that stays in place for five days and irradiates the eye. As a result, he was cured again.

There was also an element of a happy coincidence. If he had not come in for another reason, or if he had come and we 

 have that expensive machine, which few ophthalmology offices have (God forbid even 10% have them), then things would have turned out much worse.

It’s as if lightning struck one person twice. What reaction did he have after the second life-saving incident?

Normal human reaction. We were both happy!

A guy came in with not-too-bad myopia and he says what many people say, “Let’s not waste time; I just need glasses.” I go to him and ask what’s the matter. He says, “I’m not sure that my insurance will pay for a normal exam, I don’t want to pay out-of-pocket, and I’m a poor resident…” I ask him in what specialty is his residency, and he says ophthalmology – that is, within a year, he’ll be an ophthalmologist. “Just dilate my pupils and take a look. That’s it. Tomorrow I’m leaving.” I respond with, “No, dear friend, that will not work for us. We have to take images. If your insurance won’t pay, then we’ll call it even, as colleagues.” We took pictures, and it turns out that this future ophthalmologist, in a place that could not be detected by other means, had a ruptured retina. What’s more is that it could have detached at any moment. Fortunately, we have a retinal specialist in our office that was able to save his eye, “welding” the retina with a laser.

This, as far as I understand, wasn’t the saving of a life, but rather the saving of a life-story. 

If he had a detachment, then the enormous amount of time and money that he had spent on training would have gone to waste, and he would have never become an ophthalmologist. Even future specialists that think they know everything have to be forced by us, like small children, to be thoroughly examined. Afterward, they thank us. Therefore, I ask everyone over the age of 40 to trust your doctor and get checked out. Don’t just stick your head in the sand – this doesn’t only apply to the eyes, either.

–  Есть ли более драматические примеры на этот счет, т.е. на более короткой дистанции, чем отдаленные перспективы ухудшения здоровья?

– То есть бывали ли  такие случаи, когда нам приходилось почти буквально спасать жизни? Я приведу пример, судите сами. К нам пришел пациент лет сорока двух и, осматривая его, я заметил у него на руке, чуть выше кисти, 

. Казалось бы, офтальмолог должен только в глаза смотреть, а тут проявляет праздное любопытство. Я спрашиваю: «Что это у вас?» Он говорит: «Да ничего, просто новая родинка. Показывал своему терапевту, он сказал – ерунда». Тогда я посмотрел внимательно: «Нет, дорогой, это не ерунда». Конечно, осмотрел его глаза, после чего взял его за руку и привел к дерматологу прямо у нас в здании. Через несколько месяцев этот пациент приходит ко мне и говорит: «Доктор, вы спасли мне жизнь. На следующий день мне сделали биопсию, это оказалась злокачественная меланома, которая была буквально в миллиметре от того, когда она превращается в рак с метастазами. Еще бы неделя и было поздно». Угроза меланомы измеряется глубиной ее вторжения, и если ее упустить до определенного уровня, то 90 с лишним процентов пациентов не живут более пяти лет.

– Интересно, что терапевт попался такой оптимистичный, а офтальмолог увидел то, что есть. Почему так?

– Потому что офтальмолог должен часто рассматривать всякого рода пятнышки на глазном дне, на поверхности глаза, на веках, на лице, и потому его собственный глаз уже наметан. К тому же я смотрю не только в глаза, а и на общее состояние человека – как он выглядит. Здоровым, румяным или резко похудевшим, или пожелтел, а то и позеленел.

– Ну и история. Я бы на месте того пациента прижизненный памятник доктору поставил.

– Так это не конец истории. Через несколько лет он пришел ко мне по другой причине. Мы сделали ему снимок глазного дна… а у нас есть специальная машина Optos, которая без расширения зрачка делает обширные, феноменальные по точности снимки. Благодаря ей мы видим такие области сетчатки, которые не увидишь никаким другим методом. И вот с помощью «Оптоса» мы видим мельчайшее, но нехорошее пятнышко у него на сетчатке. Пятнышко подозрительно вдвойне, потому что у этого человека уже была меланома. Тогда я его срочно направляю уже к специалисту по меланомам в UCLA, а нужно сказать, что такое явление – крайне редкое (случаев 50 на всю страну), которое раньше определялось уже на поздних стадиях. Ему сделали тесты, которые подтвердили диагноз, и тут же провели лечение глазной меланомы – это такой радиоактивный щиток, который ставится на пять дней, и ее облучает. В итоге его снова вылечили.

– Получается, вы ухитрились спасти ему жизнь дважды.

– Был и элемент счастливой случайности. Если бы он не пришел по другому поводу или если бы он пришел, но у нас бы не было этой дорогостоящей машины, которая есть далеко не в каждом офтальмологическоми офисе (дай бог, чтобы таких набралось 10%), то все могло кончиться хуже.

– Это как если бы молния ударила одного человека два раза. Ну и какая реакция была у него после второго спасения?

– Нормальная человеческая реакция. Да мы оба были счастливы!

– Были еще какие-то удивительные случаи?

– Приходит парень с небольшой близорукостью, который говорит то, что говорят многие: давайте не будем тратить время, мне всего лишь нужны очки. Я к нему захожу, и спрашиваю, в чем дело. Он говорит: «Я не уверен, что моя страховка заплатит за нормальное обследование, не хочу платить из кармана, я бедный resident…» Спрашиваю, по какой специальности резидентура, отвечает, что по офтальмологии. Т.е. через год сам он станет доктором-офтальмологом. «Просто расширьте мне зрачок, гляньте – и все, я завтра уезжаю». Я отвечаю: «Нет, дорогой, у нас так не пойдет, мы должны сделать снимок. Если ваша страховка не заплатит, мы как коллеги вам простим». Сделали снимок и… определили, что у будущего молодого офтальмолога – в том месте, где это никак нельзя было бы обнаружить другими средствами, –  разрывы сетчатки. Причем такие, что вот-вот произойдет отслойка. Благо, у нас в офисе есть свой специалист по сетчатке, которая и спасла ему глаз, «приварив» сетчатку лазером.

– Это, насколько понимаю, не спасение жизни, но спасение биографии.

– Если бы у него случилась отслойка, то гигантское количество лет и средств, которые он затратил на обучение, пошли бы прахом, и он бы никогда не стал офтальмологом. Вот так, порой даже будущих специалистов, которые думают, что они все знают, мы заставляем, как детей маленьких, серьезно обследоваться, за что впоследствии они нам благодарны. И потому я призываю всех, кому за сорок: довериться врачу и провериться. Не стоит прятать голову в песок, и это относится не только к глазам.

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HOW DO OPHTHALMOLOGISTS SAVE LIVES? (PART 2) - Benjamin Eye Institute

 Did you know that there is a 45% chance that lightning may strike the same spot twice instead of 0%? Analogous to the unique case when Dr. Benjamin twice saved a patient's life when diagnosing melanoma.

А вы знали, что вероятность того, что молния дважды ударит в одно и то же место составляет не 0 а 45%? 
Так же было в уникальном случае, когда доктор Бенджамин диагностировал меланому и дважды спас пациенту жизнь. На вопрос: «Почему терапевт пропустил, а вы нет?, - врач скромно отвечает, что их глаза привыкли рассматривать всякого рода пятнышки. 



КАК ОФТАЛЬМОЛОГИ СПАСАЮТ ЖИЗНЬ (Ч. 2)

Staff was very personable and accommodated my needs.  Dr Benjamin was very professional and great bedside manner.  I would highly recommend the office to friend and family

An awesome experience as is the norm for our visits to Dr Benjamin. We have trusted him and his office with our multiple surgeries and care for many years, and plan to continue forward. Thank you Dr Benjamin, and your staff.

Great front desk and tech staff. The doctor was super nice and I’m so pleased I found this eye institute! Everyone was great and happy to finally have taken care of an appointment I had been putting off for a while. Great check-in process also for first time patients.

⭐️ My review of LASIK after one year ⭐️I told Dr. Benjamin I would do this a while ago, but I kind of feel like it says a lot I have kept this on my checklist for a year. I feel like a year is a good amount of time to review a procedure like this and give my honest thoughts and recommendation.So, let me tell you about my journey to getting LASIK and how I ended up in the amazing care of Dr. Benjamin. After going to an optometrist for years and him advising against LASIK because of my genetically dry eyes, I finally got a second opinion from an ophthalmologist (Dr. Benjamin). I didn’t know the difference between an optometrist vs. opthalmologist, but once I learned it kind of made sense why my optometrist didn’t want me getting LASIK lol. Because he couldn’t sell me on contact lenses or glasses for the foreseeable future if I got my vision corrected :) I mean, who knows, but I am glad I got a second opinion.I figured being in Los Angeles with some of the best doctors in the world… if anyone is going to touch my big, blue eyeballs, might as well get it done while I’m here. I found this business due to the reviews and they seemed to really know what they were doing and how to talk to clients.Upon meeting Dr. Benjamin he told me that I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK with my dry eyes, but he could put me through treatments for dry eyes and reevaluate after; and that these treatments had a good success rate for most.So, I started doing two treatments every other week for about 2.5 months - IPL laser treatment and Lipiflow. Lipiflow, especially, was a weird painless experience but highly recommend anyone with dry eyes to ask about it regardless of LASIK. I could tell my eyes felt way less dry a couple days after each treatment. There are videos on YouTube that talk about this treatment… Who knew this stuff existed. I’m not gonna lie, it’s an investment to do all these treatments on top of LASIK, but my eyes rarely feel dry anymore so if you’re going to get it done - do it right.Finally, I was approved for LASIK. I ended up waiting until the end of year to make sure I saved up the funds to do it and had some time to heal. I also took advantage of an end of year deal they were offering. $1000 off was a pretty nice forcing function to get me to finally do it after prepping my eyes with the treatments. The procedure itself I couldn’t feel anything even though I was awake the entire time (medicated). Even the scary part when bubbles form on your eyes Dr. Benjamin let me know about in advance so when it happened I just went with the flow. I think the worst part was the recovery the few days after and coming home drugged up lol. I remember day 1 thinking omg what did I do to my eyes. My eyes just hurt and felt weird, but omg I could see 20/15 immediately. And then, day by day it gradually got better. It took a few weeks for my eyes to heal, but after 1 month you couldn’t even tell I had surgery. One eye was a bit more bloodshot than the other.I can see 20/15. It’s been life changing for the past year not having to worry about contacts or glasses. I just got married and was able to walk down the aisle with clear vision. I only wish I had the means to have done this earlier in life. If you’re considering it - do it! And definitely consider Dr. Benjamin to do it right.Lastly, to continue treating my dry eyes, Dr. Benjamin gave me an extra LipiFlow treatment, and also recommended I try punctal plugs (painless plugs inserted into your lids that help your tears last longer). He placed the plugs in my eyes under 5 mins. Wild.I heard from people during the LASIK process they have been nervous to get the procedure so I wrote this to help and because I think highly of this business for changing my life. And, some of the dry eye treatments I would’ve never known about had it not been for them. Again, I wish I would have had been able to do this years ago. It is so, so worth it!Thank you, Dr. Benjamin (and staff!)

Concerned about a reoccurring virus, I text Dr Benjamin’s office first thing in the morning seeking immediate advice and an appointment. In quick time I received both sage advice and a same day appointment. Dr B takes a personal interest in his patients well being and has diligent, competent and attentive staff to support the care and support needed. Can’t speak highly enough.

Been going to Dr B for nearly a decade after trying many other eye doctors in LA.  Beyond solving my chronic dry eye and being the most knowledgeable, he is an all-around great guy and spends time educating. The staff is wonderful as well.

The ophthalmologist that performed my surgery, Dr. Benjamin, was extremely skilled and knowledgeable. He took the time to thoroughly explain the procedure and answer all of my questions. I felt confident in his abilities and knew that I was in good hands.

Dr Benjamin and his team are extremely professional. I had Lasik surgery performed by him and his team and everything to date has gone exactly as described to me. Front office is very friendly and scheduling appointments is easy.

The office staff were kind and considerate. The technician that assisted me explained everything she was doing. The Doctor was very nice and explained everything. He was definitely knowledgeable about my condition.

Dr Benjamin has been the “go to” eye specialist for 3 generations of my family, starting with my father and now grown children. Simply put, he’s an exceptionally capable, trustworthy, and cutting edge doctor with a courteous and professional staff.Without any reservations, I recommend him to anyone seeking an exceptional eye doctor.

The surgeons at Benjamin Eye Institute are true experts in their field - they were able to explain the procedure in detail and answer all of my questions and concerns. The surgery itself was quick and painless, and the recovery was much faster than I had anticipated.

I just completed my first visit and can say that this office deserves every high ranking it gets. The staff are efficient, friendly but highly professional.  The office is modern and sparkling clean. The examination was smooth and thorough. The doctor saw me on time.  He listened closely to the background of my problem, and he clearly communicated his treatment plan and the rationale for it. I absolutely trust him and highly recommend him.

Dr. Benjamin is always personable and thoughtful and very much an expert.  He has been my eye doctor for many years.  Now that I am older I am very grateful that he is still my ophthalmologist. Everyone in the office is very helpful. I, of course, highly recommend Dr. Benjamin.

One of the things that sets the Benjamin Eye Institute apart from other ophthalmology practices is their team of experienced and highly trained surgeons. The surgeons at the Benjamin Eye Institute have performed thousands of cataract and LASIK surgeries, and have a wealth of experience in these procedures. They are committed to providing the best possible care for their patients and strive to achieve excellent outcomes.

No exaggeration, this was the best visit with any doctor I've ever had. The facility is very nice, the staff is exceptionally thorough, professional, and efficient and Dr Arthur had by far the best bed side manner I've ever encountered. I 100% recommend him and his team

My experience at Benjamin Eye Institute was exceptional.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever encountered such an efficient and professional staff in a doctor’s office.  The front desk was communicative and everyone up to the doctor was beyond detailed in their care.  I would recommend this place to anyone who has eye problems because they have the most advanced equipment and Dr. Benjamin is caring, thorough and knowledgeable.

Dr Benjamin and his staff are excellent! 3/5 members of my family are patients from senior to adult to teen. Great care and professionalism. Highly recommend!

Immediately after  cataract surgery, I can see my husband’s face accross the room for the first time in 40 years! No more glasses since childhood, both distance and close up. If you are thinking, should you spend the big bucks to see everything both near and far?  I can tell you it’s so worth it! Thank you Dr. Benjamin and all the wonderful people in your office! I appreciate your efficiency, attentiveness, professionalism and welcoming space! Please feel free to use me as a reference any time!

I can’t ever express my deep gratitude for Dr . Benjamin and his entire extraordinary team at the Benjamin Eye Institute.I was nervous as eyes are so sensitive,  but his incredibly kind receptionists and nurses make you feel at ease and diminish all fears right away . He offers impeccable medical knowledge and state of the art technology to heal . My son and I have both experienced his phenomenal treatment and have had all our eye issues resolved . I am so thankful and can’t recommend him and the Benjamin Eye Institute highly enough 🙏

Dr.Benjamin is the best of the best.Very personable, knowledgeable and kind.I had a stye and in a bad shape.He  took me right in.His staff polite , kind and very professional.Highly recommended.

My 18-year-old son has been under Dr. Benjamin's care, and we were truly impressed by the level of service we received at Benjamin Eye Institute. From the moment we stepped into the clinic, the staff was incredibly helpful and accommodating.Dr. Benjamin conducted a comprehensive eye exam for my son, and his expertise and professionalism were evident throughout the entire process. He took the time to explain everything clearly, making sure my son understood his eye health and any potential concerns. His patience and attentiveness were truly appreciated.We highly recommend Dr. Benjamin to anyone seeking exceptional eye care. He and his team exceeded our expectations, and we are grateful for the outstanding service we received. Thank you, Dr. Benjamin!

Dr Benjamin and Alba were great. He is very professional, kind and with clear explanations. I had an eyelid quick surgery and I’m just missing the glasses prescription, I left the office and forgot to ask for it. But he and his team were amazing!

I was referred to Dr. Benjamin from both my eye doctor and a very close friend of mine who also had her LASIK performed there. My experience was exceptional. Every single person that you meet in the office is a joy to work with. Whether it was the constant and clear communication, or the fact that they were always listening to feedback and answering my questions and concerns, they went out of their way to make me feel comfortable trusting my vision to them. They were very kind and never once pressured me into anything (including when I had to push my surgery back after I broke my leg).I would recommend this place to anyone who has eye problems because they have the most advanced equipment and Dr. Benjamin is caring, thorough and knowledgeable.

Top notch service and staff! By far the best experience I’ve had at a doctors office in 20 years. I wish every office was as well trained, friendly, and professional as Benjamin Eye Institute. Seriously if you have eye problems you won’t find a better doctor.

More than everything I value professional people. Dr. Arthur Benjamin is one of them. He is taking care of me and my husband for pretty long time. All I can say we are very thankful to the doctor and people who work as a team to make us healthy and happy !

LASIK Eye Surgery- The short is go see Dr. Benjamin!I visited Dr. Benjamin Eye Institute after deciding I wanted to learn more about Lasik eye surgery and what the process would look like. I stare at computer screens for very long periods of time so I was nervous to make this life change but ready to ditch my glasses for good! The entire team from day 1 of my consultation made me feel very comfortable. The office is clean the staff are extremely welcoming, friendly and all took the time to answer any questions I had about the procedure - which was very quick and painless the day of. They also have awesome social content for educational purposes and just to make you laugh!I am about a month post procedure and it has been life changing and a freedom restored. Your eyes are important so make sure you consult with the best.Thank you Dr. Benjamin and team!!!

Dr. Benjamin is an exceptional doctor and eye surgeon. He is innovative, and anticipates a patient’s needs. Above all Dr. Benjamin is kind and caring. My results are outstanding. I can thank him for changing my life. Thank you.

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